F104 - The First Mach 2 capable aircraft to claim a kill

[xfire7]

Turned within the limits of the airfield , wow NOT

[Oldbmwr100rs]

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, The missile with a Man in it!

I worked for a man who at one time was ground crew to F 104's in the Air Force,and later worked as a subcontractor for military's flying them, and among pilots and crew it was a much loved plane.

[tjbayliss]

the.. "honor"... of a first kill?

no kill is honorable

[johnathenbates]

its called an F-104 Starfighter, so you guessed right, it is!

[42Petes]

i thought it was the star fighter

[xxwzaebd]

The A4 Skyhawk is a better design because it is slower but very capable of turning.

[Oldbmwr100rs]

@xxwzaebd The A-4  is one of my favorite little jet fighters,it was much smaller than other jets of the period, and at the time the Air Force wanted planes capable of delivering a nuclear payload. The idea of the A4 that was given was for it to be a flying suicide bomb,with the pilot bringing the bomb to target and firing it off still attached to the plane! Still,it was a tough little bird,and served well for the navy and I believe the Marines,showing that a small dogfighter was still viable.

[jhoag56]

Umm, the F-105 was actually the first to claim a kill in 1965 during the Viet Nam conflict. It was capable of Mach 2.1 and was the mainstay of the USAF until it was replaced by the F-4 in the latter part of the 1960s. The F-104 only set speed records in power dives or with a JATO, never with its underpowered engine generating only a mere 17,000 pounds of thrust. It was a sub-standard performer that failed at every thing it ever attempted and was never used by the USAF in any real numbers.

[TheJomogogo]

"Sub-standard performer"? TheF-104 simultaneously held the world record for speed/altitude/time to climb when introduced. Even by modern standards it's performance in those three areas is impressive.

[coldshot357]

The manned missile is the one I like. My favourite jet when i was a kid still think it looks cool. there is a company in Ft st john BC Canada that takes the engines from these rebuilds so they pump natural gas through the lines. look it up before you ask how or say its not possible.

[Silmacar]

f-104, nicknamed by Italian AF pilots "the flying coffin".

[MobiusDragon89]

How many Italian F-104 pilots lost their lives in accidents?

[highonfsx]

I looked online and the F-104 was involved in killing 65 airmen in total

[thezorba1]

Not to mention German air force pilots as well!!!

[MrCriticOfAll]

the only time a 104 has exceeded mach 2 was when they put a rocket in the tail and chuck yeager lost control at 100,000 feet or some great height.

[Gruntol5]

MrCriticOfAll: Really? So how do you explain the fact that on 18 May 1958, an F-104A set a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph. Eh?

[KarriKoivusalo]

F-104 would've easily exceeded mach 2 by a large margin, had it not been the construction materials and inlet turbine temperature that limited the speed.

[raynus1]

@MrCriticOfAll: A mildly modified Canadian CF-104 (a/c #12700) managed Mach 2.4 and climbed to an altitude of 100,110ft on December 14, 1967 (Wing Commander R.A White, RCAF). It was not rocket-assisted.

[mrcraig41]

"The First Mach 2 Kill"

That F-104A pilot is flying right off the deck and if you knew anything about F-104A performance, you would know that the plane can reach around Mach 1.13 near ground level. PAF F-104A pilots in both the 1965 and 1971 Wars with India NEVER achieved kills going twice the speed of sound! All the aerial encounters were subsonic and nearly all occurred a very low level.

[BigPatViggen]

I believe the poster was refering to a "Mach 2 capable aircraft" rather than an actual Mach 2 kill...

[mclaren855]

yes thats true

[MaverickOnTheMoon]

@mrcraig41 Genius, read the title. It says Mach 2 capable, not kill acheived at Mach 2. The F-104 also acheived the world's first night time missile kill while serving with the PAF against IAF

[PAFFORU]

breav heart pilot